TITLE I: Amendments to Federal Laws to Protect Against Terrorist Entry Section 101- Preventing Terrorists from Obtaining Asylum: This provision alters the standards and evidentiary burdens governing asylum applications and applications for withholding of removal. Specifically, this section: * Raises the standard for asylum and withholding eligibility and requires all applicants to prove that a "central reason" for their persecution was one of the enumerated grounds (race, religion, national origin, political opinion, or social group); * Allows judges to require credible asylum and withholding applicants to obtain corroborating evidence "unless the applicant does not have the evidence or cannot obtain the evidence without leaving the country" and effectively bars judicial reversal of determinations regarding the availability of corroborating evidence; * Authorizes credibility determinations to be based on demeanor or the consistency of an applicant's written or oral statements made at any time to any individual and whether or not under oath; * Bars any court from review of any discretionary judgments, decisions, or actions, regardless of whether made in the context of removal proceedings; and * Repeals the provision enacted in the intelligence reform legislation mandating a study of vulnerabilities in our asylum system. Effective Dates: The provisions affecting the standard and burden of proof apply to applications made on or after the date of enactment. The provision affecting judicial review applies to all cases in which the final removal order was issued before, on, or after the date of enactment. The provision affecting judicial review of discretionary administrative decisions applies to all cases pending before any court on, before, or after date of enactment. Analysis: Terrorists, people who have persecuted others, people who have committed serious non-political crimes abroad, and people who pose a danger to the security of our country are already excluded from both asylum and withholding of removal. This proposal therefore does nothing to enhance our security. It simply denies asylum to people who cannot prove the central motive of their persecutor, who cannot produce corroborating evidence of their account, or whose demeanor is inconsistent with an immigration judge's preconceived expectations. Proving motive is already a difficult exercise for many individuals fleeing persecution. To require individuals to establish the centrality of one motive above potentially several motives would be to impose a nearly insurmountable standard of proof. The "demeanor" of a person who has suffered torture or persecution has repeatedly been found to be a poor indicator of credibility. Victims of trauma often have a "flat" effect, and find it difficult to make eye contact or discus the details of abuse. Demeanor is also culture-specific: in many cultures, avoiding looking one's interlocutor in the eye, particularly if the interlocutor is an authority figure, is a sign of respect. An asylum applicant may be unable to produce corroborating evidence for reasons other than the fact that the applicant "does not have the evidence or cannot obtain the evidence without departing the United States." An applicant, for example, may be unable to obtain documentation from the persecuting government without endangering his own safety or that of family members back home who would have to try to obtain such documentation for him. Section 102 -Waiver of Laws Necessary for Improvement of Barriers at Borders: This provision amends the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (IIRAIRA) to provide the Secretary of Homeland Security with authority to waive all laws the Secretary deems necessary, in his sole and absolute discretion, to expedite construction of security fences and barriers at the borders. It also prohibits all judicial review of any decision made by the Secretary under this section. Section 103 -Inadmissibility Due to Terrorist and Terrorist-Related Activities: This provision significantly expands the terrorism-related grounds of inadmissibility. Specifically, this provision: * Broadens the INA's definitions of "terrorist organization" and "engage in terrorist activity"; * Expands the grounds of inadmissibility based on endorsement of or support for "terrorist organizations" or terror-related activity; and * Establishes a new ground of inadmissibility based on receipt of military-type training. Effective Date: These amendments apply retroactively.